Scooters make a strong comeback, new bunch looks lithe, sporty and swish

There was a time when scooters were seen as not macho enough. But millennials, says V Sunil, director at ad agency Wieden & Kennedy India, are not hung up on image issues.John Sarkar | TNN | Updated: September 13, 2015, 16:55 IST

Thirty years ago, Biplab Mukherjee got so tired of waiting for a Bajaj Chetak scooter from his prospective father-in-law that he decided to take the plunge and get married anyway . It is said that Chetak had a waiting period of 10 years at the peak of its popularity.In 2005, its Pune - based maker, Bajaj, killed the brand because it believed that the scooter segment was dead. Last month, Mukherjee, 67 and retired, wrote out a cheque for a brand new Hero Maestro. His grandson, who has just stepped into college, was pining for the scooter that Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor flamboyantly flaunted in a TV commercial.

Scooters, those ugly, potbellied, smoke-spewing objects of middle-class aspiration in the 70s and 80s, have made a strong comeback. Today , there is one scooter sold for every three two-wheelers in the country.

Modern scooters come equipped with alloy wheels, telescopic suspensions, disc brakes, under-seat storage, charging ports for smart phones and all the bells and whistles a motorcycle can only dream of due to lack of space.

Visually, the scooter design has undergone a dramatic transformation. The new bunch looks lithe, sporty and swish. “When motorcycles came, everybody wanted one because they appeared more macho than scooters and offered safety and mileage. Over the last two or three years, I have seen the game change again. Look around, and you see kids on scooters everywhere," says Mukherjee. “And they look good too."

When motorcycles came, everybody wanted one because they appeared more macho than scooters and offered safety and mileage. Over the last two or three years, the game has changed. Look around, and you see kids on scooters everywhere.

In the first half of this year, eight scooters were launched (there were 10 motorcycle launches). This is a far cry from the days when one would have to wait for a year for a new scooter.

It has also been learnt that home-grown bike maker Hero Motocorp, the largest exporter of scooters in the financial year 2014-15, is going to unveil two new models -its first platforms developed in house -later this month. The Maestro Edge and Duet, a unisex family scooter, will take on Honda's Activa.

“The scooter segment is growing at a good pace in the country, not just in the commuter segment but also in the style-conscious youth segment. Our Pleasure scooter, with its sharp positioning for women, and tag line “Why should boys have all the fun" had struck a chord with young women. Going forward, we will have new scooter brands to align with the rising aspirations of different consumer segments," says a Hero Motocorp spokesperson.

There was a time when scooters were seen as not macho enough. But millennials, says V Sunil, director at ad agency Wieden & Kennedy India, are not hung up on image issues. “Earlier, there was this societal pressure to appear tough. If you rode a scooter, you were called `soft'.

Youngsters, these days, are not bothered about how they look. They are busy figuring out what they want to do with their lives," he says. Sunil should know -he has been working on campaigns for Royal Enfield, the epitome of Indian machismo, for 10 years now.